Marine sea chest sand separator



Sept. 28, 1948. B.`R. WRIGHT MARINE SEA CHEST SAND SEPARATOR 2 Sheelts-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 2, 1944 Sept. 28, 1948. A' B, R, WRlGHT 2,450,070

MARINE SEA cHEsT ASAND sEPmwroR` l Filed Nov. 2, 1944 Y 2 sheets-sheet 2 l, l P /3 F7 51 Y f Y j 3 F76 6- l /M/fA/raf? Arrow/frs..

Patented Sept. 28, 1948 MARINE SEA CHEST SAND SEPARATOR.

Bruce R. Wright, Lakewood, Ohio-v assignorto-A Centrix Corporation, Cleveland,` Ohio,` ancora:

poration of Ohio;

ApplicationNovember 2, 1944,.Serial No. 561,619

4 Claims;y (Cl. 114-.--0.5)

l This invention relates to an improvementy in coolingsystem for marine motors.

More particularly this invention contemplates a` cooling system for marine motors in small craft andespecially such as are used for landing on sandy beaches or which travel inA shallow water.v

Heretofore it has been customary in connection with the cooling of the motors in small craft, such as the so-called landing craft which are adapted to land on open beaches, to provide within the hull a so-called seav chest to Whichsea water is admitted and fromv which the cooling water for themotors is drawn.v Such sea chests are provided with baffles or settling means and it is intended that any sand stirred up bythe crafts propeller and entering the chest with the water will settle so'that clean water can be drawn from the chest for the cooling of the motors.

Inpractice, however, it has been found that the sea' chests asheretofore provided do not effectively serve the purpose inA that the settlement ofsand therein, even under quiet sea conditions, isv not complete; and to the extent that settlement'occurs sand builds up in the chestv rapidly and carries over into the cooling system ofthe motors causing clogging of their cooling systems and defeatingthey purpose of separation inl theV sea chest.

Now in accordance with this invention there is provided: in combination with' a sea chest, means forA electively separating sand from the water entering the chest and for'removing the separated sandfrom the chest to insure the supply of cleanl water to the cooling system of the motors under any conditions.

Having now indicated in a general way the nature and purpose of the invention, I will proceed to-a'detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figurer-1 is a side view partly-broken away'and partlylin section of an embodirnent'of` this invention;

Figure 2 is a sectional view on the line 2-2- of-A Figure 371s a sectional view on the line 3-3 of Figure 1-;

Figure 4 is a side view ofv a modied embodiment ofthis invention;

Figure 5 is asectionalview on thefline 5'--'.iofl

Figure 4; and

Figure 6 isa diagrammatic View showing the" ticularly' referring to Figures 1-3 and 6, I indif-V cates. thelhull' of a boat or'sh'ip', forexample, of a type adapted and intended to be operated; in shallow water or run up on a beach. Within the; hull I is formed va water chamber or sea chest 2 receiving seawater through, an opening in the hull, which may extend throughoutthe length` and height of the chest to allow free communica'-A tion with the sea, andwhich is coveredfwith a screen or strainer 3.

Within the chest 2 are positioned a pair-lof. xed' centrifugaldevices: or tuyres 5, 5;

The tuyres 5,/ 5' are identical and comprise.

cylindrical chambers provided with outletopenings G in their tops and having their bottomsso formed asy to provide sumps: l. The. tuyres are further provided ywith a series of tangential: passages 8- about their circumferences` andispaced above their bottoms. The, passages 8 may!` be formed by slitting the-materialV of the. tuyres to form tongues Siandbending the tonguesinwardly as shown, for example,.in Figure 2.

The outlet openings 6 communicatewith headl chambers I0 which, open into a conduitf III which extends without' the chest 2V and is connectedwith apump. I2l delivering to a heat interchanger I3. The sea Water'delivered to t-helheat interchanger I3 serves to cool the fresh:y water circulated through the water jacket of an internal combustion engine I4 and is. discharged' overside troml the heat interchanger through a'pipe: I5.,

The sumps 1- formed in the bottoms. of the'l tuyres 5, 5' are connected .by'pipes 'Ithrough a Ytting I1 to. a pipe I8 whichextendsupwardlyoutside ofthe chest 2 and for dischargev outside of` theh'ull I. Extending upwardly-.from the Y tting concentrically within the pipe Ifis a smalli' pipe I9 adapted tobe connected with a Dump (not shown) yfor the delivery therethrough into' pipe I8Aof'a stream of water under relativelyhigh velocity; y

In operation of the device described with reference'to FiguresI-B? and 6, sea waterfillingth'echest 2 will be drawn by pump I Pinto-the tuyres' 5, 5 through the-radial openings 8 and asf-a consequence will have a whirling motion asr well-as an upward` travel within the tuyres:

If now the water inthe chest 2 carriesv sand in suspension, as'it-willwhere thevvessel'isopere" ated in' shallowA Water or is bleached",v due tothe disturbing effect ofV the propellers, the 'whirlingy motion ofthe water in the tuyres sets'upvortex4 action with the result thatl sandfis drawn inwardlvr and; downwardly' tothe bottom of the tuyres and falls into thesumps: Water free? from sand passes upwardly and out through the openings 6. Sand thrown against the walls of the tuyres will fall toward their bottoms and ultimately reach the sumps 1, from which the sand together with some water will pass through pipes I6 into th'e Y tting l1.

Water at high velocity emitting from pipe I9 will set up an ejecting effect with the result that the sand from the bottoms, or sumps 1, of tuyres 5, will be discharged overside through pipe I8 and sand will not collect or build up in the tuyres or in chest 2.

The water issuing from the tuyres through openings 6 will be free from sand and hence the conduit ll and pump l2 will not be abraded and clogging of the heat interchanger i3 will be avoided.

Referring now to Figures 4 and 5 which show a modification of this invention, the tuyres 5, 5 are omitted from chest 2 and conduit H leading to pump l2 is connected directly to the upper part of the chest. Within the chest and parallel to the opening in the hull is a baiile plate 4. Lying on, or adjacent to, the bottom of the chest, which slants downwardly toward the opening in hull I are a series of casings 2d extending laterally through the baiile within the chest.

The casings 20, which are preferably circular,

are closed at their upper end, open at their lower end and are provided with longitudinallyv extending slots 2|, or a series of openings in their bodies, in their extension inside of the baiile 4.

Extending into the casings 2S, through their upper ends, and concentric therewith are small pipes 22 connected to a manifold 23 supplied with water from a pump (not shown) through pipe 24 for discharge from pipes 22 at high velocity.

In the operation of the modification shown in Figures 4 and 5, sand entering chest I2 with sea water will settle to the bottom of the chest behind the baffle Vli, which will serve to limit the effect of motion of the vessel on the water behind the baffle and hence will promote the settlement of sand. The discharge of water at high velocity through pipes 22 will cause an ejecting effect, which will act to draw sand from the bottom of the chest into the casings 2U through slots 2li and eject it from the casings through the opening in the hull, as shown by the arrow Figure 5, all with the result that the water passing from the chest through conduit Il will be freed from sand by settlement in the chestl and the settled sand will be ejected from the chest with avoidance of building up to interfere with settlement 'and resuspension from the motion of the vessel.

It will be appreciated 'that for setting up the ejecting eiect any fluid at high velocity, as air, may be used in place of water as ydescribed above for illustrative purposes and that various modiiications may be made in the structure described in detail above without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. In a cooling system for marine motors, in combination. a hull, a sea` chest within the hull and having communication through the hull for the entry of sea water, a tuyre comprising a body provided with tangential openings mounted within said chest and adapte-d to receive through said tangential openings water carrying sand whereby a whirling motion will be imparted to vwater carrying sand within said tuyre to eiiect separation of sand and water, means for drawing sea water into the sea chest and for the withdrawal of water from the top of said tuyre, a fluid actuated ejector in communication with the bottom of said tuyre for the withdrawal of sand therefrom and means connected with said ejector for the discharge of sand without said chest.

2. In a cooling system for marine motors, in combination, a hull, a sea chest within the hull and having communication through the hull for the entry of sea water, a tuyre comprising a top, a bottom, and a cylindrical body portion provided with tangential openings mounted within said chest and adapted to receive through said tangential openings water carrying san-d whereby a whirling motion will be imparted to water carrying sand within said tuyre to effect separation of sand and water, said openings being located above the bottom and below the top of the tuyre, the top of said tuyre having a downwardly extending annular flange forming an outlet opening concentric with the body portion opening into an outlet conduit, a fluid actuated v ejector in communication with the bottom of said tuyre for the withdrawal of sand therefrom means connected with said ejector for the discharge of sand to the outside of the hull and means for causing Water to iiow into the chest and through the outlet conduit.

3. In a cooling system for marine motors, in combination, a hull, there being an opening in one side of the hull, a sea chest constructed within the hull about said opening and having its bottom slanting downward toward the lower point of the said opening, there being a settling chamber in the chest having a wall separating the settling chamber from the chest provided with openings spaced from the bottom of the settling chamber through which the water passes to the settling chamber from the chest to permit the sand vto settle on the bottom of the settling chamber, an outlet conduit leading from the upper portion of the settling chamber for the delivery of water to the cooling system, a uid actuated ejector having an inlet for sand communicating with the bottom of the settling chamber and an outlet for the discharge of sand to the exterior of the hull, and means for delivering ejecting fluid to the ejector.

4. In a cooling system for marine motors, in combination, a hull, a sea chest within the hull and having communication through the huil for the entry of sea water, a iixed centrifugal device within said chest having openings above the bottom and below the top thereof through which water flows carrying sand for the separation of sand carried thereby, tangential members adjacent to said openings whereby a whirling motion will be imparted to the water in the centrifugal device to cause the sand to settle to the bottom thereof, a conduit connected to said centrifugal device'above the openings for the passage of water therefrom to the cooling system, means for drawing sea water through the sea chestI and through the centrifugal device into the-conduit and for delivering the water to the cooling system, a fluid actuated ejector in communication with the bottom of the centrifugal device below said openings for the withdrawal of sand therefrom, an outlet from the ejector for the discharge of sand to the exterior of the hull and means for delivering ejecting fluid to the ejector.v

Y BRUCE R. WRIGI-l'l.v

(References on following page) REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name vDate 353,775 Booraem Dec. 7, 1886 741,771 Davis Oct. 20, 1903 954,269 Durkee Apr. 5, 1910 1,431,367 Buchi Oct. 10, 1922 1,641,670 French Sept. 6, 1927 1,751,689 Enz et a1 Mar. 25, 1930 Number 

